Laundry & School

Nate played in a church basketball game earlier this week. He went to the game straight from work, and he said as he was at the church changing he found that the pair of white socks he had grabbed weren't actually a match. One was his and one was mine. So he had to play with one of his socks barely making it to his heel! He said that was the last time he was going to pay the kids to fold our laundry.

On Monday and Tuesday of this week I was seriously contemplating enrolling the kids back in "regular school" as Hannah called it. Yesterday and today were much better. I'm so tired of doing everything halfway. Well, I'm just plain tired, too. My kids are really good kids, but they are just kids. They are messy. They would rather play than fulfill responsibilities. They argue if things don't go their way. They whine. Oh, wait -- that sounds like me! :) So I guess if you keep all four of us together long enough, anybody would get tired of that. I was talking to my friend at gymnastics on Monday, and she was talking about how she spent a couple of hours cleaning her house that morning before she took her 3-year-old (her only child not in school) to playgroup. I almost didn't know what to say to her. When was the last time I had a morning with a couple of hours free to clean my house? With no one to create a tornado in the room I wasn't in? Her son was helping her clean even! I thought about what I was doing that morning -- teaching a cooking class to about 30 kids. And the chicken juice had spilled in my van on the way there, and when I got home it took me until that afternoon to get all of the dishes from the basket I had carried them in to the sink. A couple of them didn't get washed until the next day. And I still haven't had a chance to clean out the van. I remembered it today when Nikki got in and asked What is that smell? Then later I remembered again when I tried to open the passenger side door and it was stuck. I hope I remember again tomorrow if I have a chance to clean it. It will be even better if I remember to mention it to Nate so he can clean it on Saturday, because he somehow remembers to take care of everything. Except checking to see if his socks match.

Announcing...

Okay, I wasn't trying to slight this new baby with a hidden announcement. I just haven't felt like blogging much and didn't know when I'd get back to it. But let me do a little better job with this post.

We are having another BABY!!

I am due on March 20th, and we do not know if it's a boy or girl yet. I think we've decided that we will find out which it will be, but I don't know yet if I want to tell anybody. I wonder if I can make it 5 or 6 months knowing and not let it out. I need to think about it a little more.

A couple of people have said, "Are you just so excited?!" I'll be honest and admit that my first thought was that I feel sick and fat more than anything else. But, yes, it is exciting. I look at all of my children and the incredible amount of love they each have brought into my life, and I am very excited for more of that. It's a bit overwhelming when I think of the honor and privilege it is to be a mother.

Disney

I'll try not to post too many pictures. We started at Animal Kingdom. We had signed the girls up for an educational class that was really neat. There were about 8 or 9 kids in the group, and we had a couple of guides walk us through the park and teach the kids about some of the different animals. We played a few educational games and also went on the Safari with no waiting in line. It was a really great experience, and I recommend looking into the YES (Youth Education Series) program if you're planning a trip to Disney. They fill up pretty quickly, so you have to plan ahead for it.

 We saw some cool things on the Safari. This dominant male giraffe didn't feel like getting out of the road even when one of the park employees tried slowly driving right up to it. He eventually moved when he wanted to, and then we turned the corner and saw three giraffes stampeding towards us. I didn't get a picture of that, but it was neat. Do you know why a giraffe's tongue is purple? It's because they spend so much of their day in the hot sun sticking their tongues out to eat leaves. The purple color allows their tongue to not get sunburned. They also only sleep for about 2-3 minutes at a time, getting a total of about 30 minutes of sleep a day. I'd hate to be a giraffe!

 I rode this twirly triceratops ride with Ryan and decided spinning things aren't for me. I'm expecting and the rides just weren't the hit for me at Disney. I guess I haven't mentioned that on my blog yet, so I should probably go ahead and explain that I'm almost 13 weeks along. I actually felt the best on our trip than I have in several weeks, but I just got tired so quickly!

 We also learned in our class that there are 325 animals carved into the Tree of Life and there are 106,000 leaves -- although after a few hurricanes there are probably less now.

 Animal Kingdom had the coolest parade. I loved all the different animals they created, and I think it would be so cool to be able to walk on stilts.

The day after Labor Day is definitely a great time to hit the theme parks. We only had about 10 minute waits in just about all of the lines, and some things we walked right on and could even ride a second time without getting off if we wanted. The 100-degree weather was a bit of a drawback, but we were expecting that and found as much shade as we could. The water rides helped a lot, too.

 Nikki loved meeting Ariel and Eric. I think Eric needs a better wig.

 This was neat. We got to go through a new attraction that isn't completely open yet. It's in Maurice's house and moves you into the Beast's castle. They picked several people from the audience to participate in a play with Belle, and Nikki, Ryan, Hannah, and Nate were all chosen. Nikki was Mrs. Potts and Ryan was Chip.

 Hannah was the wardrobe, which I don't think she was too thrilled about.

 Nate got to be one of the knights. I guess being tall has a few perks.

 

This was when the ride first started.

And this is what Nate thought of the teacups a little ways into it. I knew better than to get on this one!

The castle was so pretty lit up at night, but I had a hard time getting a picture of it with our dinosaur of a camera. Ryan got just about as worn out as I did.

At Hollywood Studios we got a picture with Mickey.

And when Ryan got to take a picture with Lightning and Mater his trip was complete. This was pretty much the reason we chose to go to Hollywood Studios.

We also saw a really cool stunt show that had a life-sized Lightning come out and drive around for a bit. Ryan was in heaven. Nate and I really enjoyed that show, too. It was cool seeing all the stunts the cars and motorcycles did. That was probably my favorite along with the Lion King show at Animal Kingdom. Of course I didn't get pictures of some of the best parts.

It was a great trip. Thanks, Nate, for planning it, and I'm sorry I was upset with you about it. You were right. Just don't plan another trip to an amusement park while I'm pregnant!

Florida

Last week we took a family vacation to Florida. We had a great time and came home quite exhausted. We spent three days at Disney World, and after a couple of days Hannah asked me why we have never gone to an amusement park before. Umm, sorry! Doesn't the fair count? But the kids are big enough to ride the rides now, and the girls had a great time on the roller coasters, which surprised me (except Nikki hated the Tower of Terror).

Anyway, we started the week with plans for the beach, but maybe we're spoiled living so close to the Outer Banks. I told Nate that we now have to take a trip to the Caribbean and Hawaii before I can officially say that North Carolina has my favorite beaches. I'm sure not all beaches in Florida are dirty with waves that remind me of the sound, but the beach we went to did. I think it's great that kids can have fun anywhere, and they still had a great time anyway.

So, instead of heading to the beach for another day, the kids wanted to just play in the pool at the hotel, which was great.